NH1 News

Report: Little change since 1997 education funding ruling

Written by HOLLY RAMER, on June 20, 2017 7:43 am.

CONCORD (AP) — A new report finds that little has changed in the two decades since New Hampshire's landmark court ruling on education funding, and that rural, property-poor communities have the most to lose going forward.

After Claremont and four towns sued the state in 1991, a series of Supreme Court decisions have held that the state has a duty to provide an adequate education, including a key 1997 ruling that found the state's reliance on local property taxes for most school funding unconstitutional.

In a report released Tuesday, the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies says the wide variation in local tax rates and per pupil spending among communities hasn't changed in 20 years. The center also projected what will happen to the funding as the number of school-age children decreases.